Brazil may become an anti-vaccination tourist destination without a vaccine passport, says the director of Anvisa

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The absence of a vaccine passport to enter Brazil can turn the country into a vacation destination for people who refuse to take the immunizing agent against Covid, says Meiruze Sousa Freitas, director of Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency), in interview to sheet.

For her, this increases the uncertainty and risk for the population in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) stopped the advance of the vaccine passport in Brazil. Last Sunday (5), he defended, once again, the non-mandatory nature of vaccines against Covid and stated that he will seek to change the legislation so that only the federal government can determine rules on the vaccination passport.

On Monday (6), Minister Luís Roberto Barroso, of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), gave 48 hours for the Bolsonaro government to explain why proof of vaccination is not required for people arriving in Brazil by air.

For Freitas, the risk of Brazil becoming a destination for anti-vaccination is even greater due to the devaluation of the real and the approach of the end of the year and summer festivities.

“What Anvisa is asking for and recommending is that everyone be vaccinated”, says Freitas. An increase in the number of unvaccinated people coming from abroad may favor the entry of worry variants —such as omicron— in the country. “We hope that the doors of Brazil are not open under these conditions. We are favoring the risks.”

The director of Anvisa participates, this Tuesday (7), at 7 pm, in the Foro Inteligência, which will deal with the theme “The ideologization of Science and the impacts on scientific research”. Also participating in the event are virologist Maurício Nogueira, from the São José do Rio Preto Faculty of Medicine, and Ana Elisa Miller, institutional director of the Brazilian Association of Representative Organizations for Clinical Research (Abracro).

According to Nogueira, “it is absurd that we still don’t have a vaccine passport” in Brazil.

“Are we going to become a sanctuary for antivaxer tourism?”, he says. “We have a highly vaccinated population, despite the government’s denial. What is the reason for the refusal of the vaccination passport?”.

In addition to this issue, the representative of Anvisa also defended the expansion of vaccination of children against Covid. This is a natural path, according to Freitas, especially when considering the long-term lack of knowledge about the disease in children.

“What we’re seeing, even using data from South Africa, is a very big concern of children being affected with Covid.” So far, only Pfizer’s immunizer has been approved for people aged 12 and over.

In Brazil, soon, this specific vaccine can also be extended to new age groups. Anvisa’s request is under analysis by the pharmaceutical so that children aged 5 to 11 can also receive the immunizing agent. Other than that, Pfizer is also already preparing the application for the use of the vaccine in groups from 6 months to 5 years of age.

In the US, Pfizer’s vaccine is already used for children 5 years of age and older.

“The risks are still uncertain”, says Freitas, about the disease in children. “That it [a vacina] be expanded to even younger children.”

In July, the Butantan Institute also tried to expand the age range for applying Coronavac, from 3 to 17 years old. Anvisa did not approve the use, however. According to Freitas, essential information was lacking, which so far has not been presented.

“We know that this vaccine is already being used in other countries, but we need to have access to this data, including the effectiveness and follow-up studies, so that we can expand the Coronavac vaccine for children. And we will have to assess how effective Coronavac would be for new variants, including omicron”, says the director of Anvisa.

The agency’s representative also claims that Butantan did not send additional information to Anvisa about new variants and that, in relation to other laboratories with approved vaccines in the country, Butantan is the one that has the most difficulty in delivering information.

One of the possible reasons for this, according to Freitas, is that Coronavac, approved by the WHO (World Health Organization) for emergency use, has no strong entry into other countries with strong regulation, such as Canada and the USA, which would favor the generation of Dice. “As other vaccines are in these markets, we have easier access to data.”

​Nogueira and Freitas also criticize the idea, at least at this time, of bringing forward the booster dose of the vaccine for all ages, as decided in São Paulo last week. According to the two specialists, there is no data to support such a decision. Anvisa has already manifested itself against the measure.

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